Whatever Happened To ... Scorgie's?

Since we wrote about an iconic local disco last week, it seemed appropriate this week to touch on a legendary Rochester nightclub of a different sort.

Scorgie's, on Andrews Street, was the place to go in the '80s for punk and New Wave music. Rolling Stone magazine once called Scorgie's one of the top 100 music clubs in the country. National acts like the Ramones and the Bangles played there, as well as local artists like the Press Tones and Personal Effects.

The club had a scruffy edge that was hard to find elsewhere in town. Plenty of tales of ribaldry emerged from Scorgie's, which fully embraced the alternative music scene.

"Scorgie's was the perfect place for it," said Paul Dodd, the drummer for Personal Effects, in a 2008 Democrat and Chronicle story by Jeff Spevak. "It was just a bunch of misfits."

Don Scorgie, a native Irishman, opened the upstairs bar at 150 Andrews St. in 1977. The downstairs room, where the live music was performed, opened two years later.

Initially, Scorgie booked acts that played everything from blues to folk to rock, including legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker. Within a couple of years, Scorgie's became a haven for alternative music, whether you call it New Wave or punk.

Scorgie famously tossed Elvis Costello out of his bar in 1979 after Costello "demanded to be treated like a star," according to a 1983 news story. A punk band, The Cramps, caused a scene in 1981 when lead singer Lux Interior began tearing down ceiling tiles. Someone had pulled down the singer's skin-tight pants, so he did the destruction completely naked, club regulars reminisced in the 2008 article.

"Rock and roll at its most primal," musician Stan Merrill said in the story. "You went to Scorgie's to see legendary rock and roll figures."

The Go-Go's played Scorgie's before they hit it big. So, too, did 10,000 Maniacs, who performed several gigs. National acts like the Replacements, Alex Chilton and John Cale were there, as well as local bands like New Math, the Cliches and the Chesterfield Kings.

The upstairs bar had a quirky nautical theme and a great jukebox. The downstairs room, which held only about 210 people, had a terrific sound system and a bar but no seats.

The heyday was relatively short-lived. By 1985, Scorgie's stopped the live music and the downstairs room was converted to a comedy club. The club went through different incarnations in the '90s — sometimes music mixed with the comedy acts — but it was never the same. Scorgie's closed for good in 1994, and the building has been vacant for years.

In a 1990 Times-Union story, Scorgie explained why he brought music back at that time.

"It keeps the blood flowing, you know?" he said in the story by Karen Krenis. "I used to tell everyone I was the oldest punk rocker in the city, and I loved it."

The place had such an iconic status that a reunion was held in 2008 at the German House on South Avenue. A website, a vast blog of reminiscent postings, has been set up (www.scorgies.com).

Scorgie's not only was a fun place to listen to great music and get your freak on, it also was influential. Danny Deutsch, a bartender at the club, now owns Abilene nightclub. Tom Kohn, a Scorgie's regular during the club's peak, owns the Bop Shop music store.

"We're all doing what we dreamed we wanted to do," Kohn said in the 2008 story. "It was so important to steering so many of us to where we are today."

As Jeff Spevak eloquently detailed in the 2008 story, the saga of Scorgie's lives on.

"Whatever Happened To? ..." is a feature that explores favorite haunts of the past and revisit the headlines of yesteryear. It's a partnership between RocRoots.com and "Join if you're from Rochester New York" on Facebook.

Have an idea you'd like us to explore? Email us at roc-roots@DemocratandChronicle.com.